The Sacrifice of the Children to Learn

The story was about a group of children leaving in an island that lacked almost all the services of the government. One of these services is public school. Because there were no schools in the island, they need to cross the sea using a small boat, just to study. They will stay in the next island for five days where public school service is available.

In the age averaging from 8 to 12 years old they were leaving by themselves in a small nipahouse; no furniture inside except the charcoal cooking stone blocks. The roof has lot of holes; the four corners of the house is supported by only four unstable wood that is ready to be washed out if hit by big waves coming from the sea; the house is in the water. The house is not owned by them and they were not renting it. A friend of their family, a good samaritan, had allowed them to stay in one of his nipahouses for free.

Their parents were left in their home island to take care of the young siblings and to work (their source of income is fishing). As the children arrived in the neighbor island, they would need to take care of their selves. After the class, they would head back to the old nipahouse where they need to cook their food. By 5pm they were already cooking their dinner instead of playing outside with other children. That time they were cooking a "lugaw" (rice with plenty of water). They have no meat to eat so they just put some salt in the "lugaw" to add a taste.

These children were striving hard just to learn. I admire them and hope that one day these educated children will rise and lead our country to the good path. I hope that the sacrifices of these children will not be wasted. Have a good day everyone.